Flight delay compensation – Know your rights.

As a regular holiday-goer or commuter, you have to be pretty lucky to avoid a flight delay.

Some see it as an extra hour or two at the bar or even a bit of extra time perusing the shops, however, most see it as empty hours eating into your holiday or a frustrating obstacle between you and your much missed bed.

It has been known that in some cases when you arrive at the airport to find there’s a delay, your flight hasn’t even left its destination.

As irritating as this is, you could be eligible for compensation.

The EC regulation 261/2004 was introduced recently meaning that if your flight was delayed more than 3 hours or cancelled, you could claim money back.

Here are the things you need to know;

1. Providing you have adequate evidence, you can claim for a delay up to 6 years ago

2. You could be entitled to between £190-£480

3. The regulation only covers EU flights

4. You can only claim if the delay or cancellation was caused by;

-The crew or pilot being late

-The airline missed the deadline for documentation

– Component failure or general wear and tear to the aircraft

– Flight was cancelled due to underbooking

5. You cannot claim for any of the following;

– Bad Weather

– Safety issues

– Political action

– Air traffic control decisions, insisting the flight is unsafe for departure due to unforeseen and uncontrollable circumstances (e.g Volcanic Ash)